What
may have been London’s loss, has been Zürich’s,
and now, Cleveland’s gain. But may be not.
When Franz Welser-Möst was catapulted
on to the London music scene to take over
concerts with the LPO because of an indisposed
Klaus Tennstedt he was a virtually unknown
greenhorn in his mid 20s. He immediately established
a close relationship with this orchestra and
showed enormous promise. In 1990, the LPO’s
sadly missed late Klaus Tennstedt stepped
down as its music director because of ill
heath and it was Welser-Möst who succeeded
him. His self-confidence, the strong backing
by prominent people, who rightly believed
in his talent and leadership qualities and
his rapport with the orchestra seemed to be
the ideal qualifications. But he took over
at a time of great upheaval and uncertainty
for the London freelance orchestras and he
was in no way prepared for the political battles
which lay ahead.

Naturally,
he made mistakes, but he had no real backing
from the LPO’s board, itself fighting internal
problems. Soon, the orchestra turned against
him and so did the critics. For me it is a
sad fact that in London well disguised artistic
mediocrity pays off, but not risk taking.
Welser-Möst took risks; often he succeeded,
but not always. All the concerts I attended
during his six-year reign as Music Director
of the LPO showed brilliant, if some times
risky or occasionally uneven music making;
his programming did not always go down well
with the RFH audiences either. Finally, the
critics decided his downfall and in 1996 he
left to become Music Director of the Zürich
Opera House. In 2002, he succeeded Christoph
von Dohnányi as Music Director of that
most cultivated of the great American orchestras,
the Cleveland. My spies there are all very
happy indeed to have such an engaged and versatile
chief conductor, who spends more time with
the orchestra than anybody before him.

Franz
Welser-Möst was certainly not made for
London at this early stage in his career.
Having been an admirer of his intense and
direct musical command, I was only too happy
to welcome him back for two concerts with
the LSO at the Barbican. For unforeseen reasons
I had to miss the first, but the second concert
delivered the proof I was longing for. He
had matured without having lost any of his
risk taking, any of his vibrant directness
and bite or his appetite for unusual programs.
To open a concert with the 4th Symphony by
Sibelius, his most modern work `close to European
Expressionism´ and in his own words a
"psychological symphony" is dangerously
courageous. An audience not too familiar with
this work, which is difficult to understand
and which allows various interpretations in
its moods, colours and its breath, may drift
away. Not everybody seemed able to concentrate
or follow the extremely dark, depressive and
introvert line Welser-Möst had opted
for. But the LSO followed his intentions passionately
and came up with a rare intensity and an incredible
pianissimo, where necessary.

For
Welser-Möst this symphony rightly mirrors
Edvard Munch´s paintings; the dance like second
and the slow third movement possessed a Mahleresque
character, while the last movement finished
with deeply felt resignation. In 1908, after
having had surgery to remove a tumour from
his throat, Sibelius´ thoughts were encircled
by his mortality, a motive dictating the complexity
of the entire symphony. Mortality may also
have played an important part in Mozart´s
last work, the commissioned, but unfinished,
Requiem Mass in D Minor, KV 626, which followed
after the interval.

But
as much as Mozart may have also written it
for himself, he remained a child of his time,
when music for the church used to be jubilant,
earthy and joyful. His Requiem is no exception
– and Welser-Möst together with a slightly
smaller LSO and the entire London Symphony
Chorus proved this point with an unforgettable
and inspired interpretation of lightness,
contrast, breathtaking tempi and overpowering
beauty. Of the four excellent soloists, the
soprano Sally Matthews, in particular, deserves
to be mentioned. Her entrance with `Kyrie
eleison. Christe eleison` sounded like an
angel from Heaven – an ideal voice for the
Countess in "Le nozze di Figaro".
With the first part of the Lacrimosa, Mozart’s
autograph ends. Here, Welser-Möst created
a tranquillity and mood of distant eternity.

After
Mozart’s death his friend and pupil Franz
Xaver Süßmayr finished the Requiem
following as closely as possible the instructions
Mozart had given him on his deathbed. But
the final Agnus Dei sounds somehow pompous
and disappointing. As soon as it had died
away, Welser-Möst kept his arms up and
a couple of seconds later finished the Requiem
with the short motet "Ave verum corpus"
– the best solution I have ever experienced
and the ideal way to bring Mozart’s last work
to a fitting conclusion. Chorus and orchestra
delivered this exquisite gem in unsurpassable
style – one could even feel, how the audience’s
flesh began to creep.